logo
Imam of Peace: Mohammed Tawhidi and his surprisingly controversial message

Imam of Peace: Mohammed Tawhidi and his surprisingly controversial message

Calgary Herald03-06-2025

In a black outer robe trimmed with a thin golden line and a traditional white turban, Imam Mohammad Tawhidi warmly greeted and welcomed guests to a hall on the second floor of a modest two-storey building in Toronto, even personally escorting some to their seats. The occasion, on March 31, was an Eid reception to mark the end of Ramadan, Islam's holiest month of fasting and prayer, and it was the first such reception of the Global Imams Council 's new western headquarters in Canada.
Article content
Article content
Article content
The charismatic Tawhidi serves as a governing member of the council, comprised of faith leaders and scholars of all Islamic sects. The group advocates against Islamic extremism and promotes peaceful and meaningful relations with Jewish people and the Jewish nation.
Article content
Article content
Inside, the room buzzed with diversity, as community leaders, activists and even Jewish rabbis came to hear Tawhidi's powerful speech calling for peace and unity among all faiths. Widely known as the 'Imam of Peace,' Tawhidi was born in Qom, a religious city in Iran, but his parents are from Iraq. The cleric later fled the regime of Saddam Hussein and eventually settled in Australia. Coming from a long line of Shia clerics, he proudly says, 'We are Shia Orthodox — orthodox in our beliefs and conservative in our traditions.'
Article content
Educated in Islamic studies, Tawhidi is pursuing a doctorate in Islamic jurisprudence. He was ordained as an imam in Qom, Iran, in 2010, and again in Iraq in 2013.
Article content
Article content
Unlike other Muslim imams, Tawhidi has sat with Jewish rabbis in synagogues, and Christian priests in churches. He has publicly denounced groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, calling them terrorist organizations. He says Jerusalem rightfully belongs to the Jewish people, which earned him praise from interfaith advocates around the world, and threats from extremist Muslims.
Article content
Article content
National Post sat with Tawihidi to learn more about his views. The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Article content
An imam is someone who represents the teachings of God, the wishes of God, and everything that comes down from God should be (about) peace, and what revolves around peace and what helps us reach either inner peace or social harmony, to make our lives better, not to turn our lives into misery, right?

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Israel says it has recovered the remains of 2 more hostages held in Gaza
Israel says it has recovered the remains of 2 more hostages held in Gaza

Toronto Star

time2 hours ago

  • Toronto Star

Israel says it has recovered the remains of 2 more hostages held in Gaza

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli forces have recovered the remains of two additional hostages held in Gaza, the office of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday. One of the hostages, Yair Yaakov was killed on Oct. 7, 2023, during Hamas' attack on southern Israel and his body was taken into Gaza. The identity of the second hostage whose body was recovered was not immediately disclosed.

Mandatory military service for Israel's ultra-Orthodox tests Netanyahu's rule
Mandatory military service for Israel's ultra-Orthodox tests Netanyahu's rule

Winnipeg Free Press

time4 hours ago

  • Winnipeg Free Press

Mandatory military service for Israel's ultra-Orthodox tests Netanyahu's rule

JERUSALEM (AP) — The deadliest attack in Israel's history happened on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's watch. The country's economy is struggling under the weight of the ongoing war in Gaza. And Netanyahu is on trial for corruption. Yet a far more obscure issue is posing the greatest test to Netanyahu's lengthy rule: the draft of young ultra-Orthodox men to the military. It's an issue that has long divided Jewish Israelis, for whom military service is compulsory. But a decades-old arrangement long allowed tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews to avoid the draft and study religious texts instead. Netanyahu's ultra-Orthodox coalition partners want the government to pass a law that would enshrine their constituents' desire to stay out of the military. The issue of ultra-Orthodox enlistment has long inflamed tensions between secular and religious Jews. That has only intensified since the war in Gaza began, when the burden on soldiers has been prominent in the public consciousness. Why is the draft of the ultra-Orthodox such a pivotal issue in Israel? Decades-long system of draft exemptions Most Jewish men are required to serve nearly three years in the military, followed by years of reserve duty. Jewish women serve two mandatory years. But the politically powerful ultra-Orthodox, who make up roughly 13% of Israel's population, have traditionally received exemptions from the military while studying full-time in religious seminaries, or yeshivas. The religious exemption dates back to Israel's founding 80 years ago, a compromise the country's first prime minister, David Ben Gurion, made with ultra-Orthodox leaders to allow some 400 Jewish seminary students to devote themselves fully to Torah study. The significant growth of the ultra-Orthodox population since then has made the exemption a hugely divisive issue to Israeli society. Some 66,000 enlistment age men currently study in seminaries. The war in Gaza has deepened divisions over the issue The decades-old system has bred widespread resentment among the broader Jewish public, a feeling that has deepened during the 20-monthlong war in Gaza and the regional conflicts it sparked. For much of that time, many Israelis viewed the fighting as an existential battle for their country's security in the Middle East. Nearly 870 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the fighting. Reserve soldiers have repeatedly been called up, often for weeks at a time, leaving jobs and families to serve in a war that Israelis increasingly view as having run its course. The ultra-Orthodox say they carry their share of the burden to society through prayer and study of sacred texts. Many fear that greater contact with secular society through the military will distance adherents from strict observance of the faith. The ultra-Orthodox are politically powerful After years of legal battles, the country's High Court last year ruled unanimously that the military must begin drafting ultra-Orthodox men for compulsory service. The military has since attempted to increase call ups for ultra-Orthodox men, to little success. Out of 12,000 draft orders sent since the High Court ruling, only dozens of ultra-Orthodox have actually enlisted, said Shuki Friedman, vice president of the Jewish People Policy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank. Netanyahu needs political support from the ultra-Orthodox to remain in power. That support is all the more important to him because public opinion polls show he would struggle to form a coalition if elections were held now. Netanyahu has promised his politically powerful ultra-Orthodox governing partners that he would find a way out of the quagmire that would protect their interests. But with a few holdouts in his Likud party urging a more just approach, the ultra-Orthodox parties have grown increasingly impatient with the lack of a resolution. The war in Gaza has added a new dimension to the years-old quarrel and foisted the issue of fair enlistment to the foreground. Sensing a political opportunity emerging from the ultra-Orthodox community's frustration with Netanyahu and the broader Jewish public's desire for an equitable draft, the country's opposition is pouncing. Elections aren't guaranteed, or immediate Sundays Kevin Rollason's Sunday newsletter honouring and remembering lives well-lived in Manitoba. On Wednesday or early Thursday, legislators are expected to hold a preliminary vote in parliament on the motion. If it passes with the support of the ultra-Orthodox parties — which isn't guaranteed — the bill then heads to committee to be lined up for the first reading and then later a second and final vote. That could take days or weeks depending on each sides' strategy. The first votes need a plurality to pass while the third and final votes need at least 61 of the 120 members of Knesset. If any of the votes fail to pass, the bill falls and the opposition cannot attempt to dissolve parliament for another six months. If it passes, new elections are triggered. Those wouldn't happen for another three to six months.

Iran executes man over 2022 protest killings. Activists say he was framed
Iran executes man over 2022 protest killings. Activists say he was framed

Winnipeg Free Press

time8 hours ago

  • Winnipeg Free Press

Iran executes man over 2022 protest killings. Activists say he was framed

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran on Wednesday executed a man convicted in the fatal shootings of seven people during a 2022 protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, though human rights activists say he was tortured into confessing to killings likely carried out by security services. The hanging of Abbas Kourkouri, also known as Mojahed Kourkouri, marks the first execution in nearly a year for someone arrested in the protests surrounding the death of Amini, who had been detained by police allegedly over not wearing her hijab, or headscarf, to their liking. Her death sparked months of demonstrations. Even today, some women refuse to wear their headscarves in public, openly defying a hijab law instituted by the country's theocracy. It's unclear why authorities chose now to execute Kourkouri, 42, though tensions have been rising regionally over Iran's rapidly advancing nuclear program, and the result of talks with the United States remains uncertain. Iran is one of the world's top executioners and has been cracking down in other ways on society in the time since the Amini demonstrations. Kourkouri 'was sentenced to death without a fair trial and without access to a lawyer of his choice,' said Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam of the Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights, which tallied an average of one execution in the Islamic Republic every six hours over the last eight months. Shooting happened during Amini protests Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported at the time that on Nov. 16, 2022 two gunmen on motorcycles shot at protesters and security personnel gathered at the central market in the southwestern city of Izeh in the country's restive, oil-rich Khuzestan province. The assault killed seven people, including a 9-year-old boy, and wounded three police officers and two members of the Basij, the all-volunteer arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guard. The death of the 9-year-old boy, named Kian Pirfalak, drew anger from Iranians, particularly after his family reportedly said it was security forces — not other gunmen — who opened fire. Kourkouri was accused of being one of the gunmen. He was charged with a spate of offenses, including 'moharebeh' – an Islamic term meaning waging a battle against God. Authorities arrested him in December 2022 after reportedly shooting him in the leg. Activists say he was denied medical treatment beyond the bullet's removal. State media described Kourkouri as a drug dealer and 'instigator' with a history of extremist beliefs. But rights advocates say he isn't the violent person authorities have made him out to be and was himself an innocent protester. 'He was arrested during the 'Woman, Life, Freedom' protests, and the Islamic Republic authorities attempted to blame him' for the attack, Amiry-Moghaddam said. He added that the slain boy's parents and uncle believed Iranian security forces were responsible. The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which also monitors Iran, similarly dismissed the Iranian government's claims. 'While authorities continue to describe the events of Nov. 16 in Izeh as a 'terrorist attack,' eyewitnesses and the families of victims have presented accounts that contradict the government's narrative,' it said Wednesday. The group quoted Kian's mother as saying, 'On our way home, officers opened fire on our car.' State media earlier broadcast videos of Kourkouri taking blame for the attack. But Amnesty International has said that authorities subjected him to solitary confinement and coerced his confessions, and that he wasn't at the scene at the time of the killings. One videotaped confession that had been aired on state TV showed Kourkouri in bed with his arm visibly bandaged and bloody, the rights group said. The footage resembled that of many other suspected coerced confessions broadcast by the Iranian broadcaster. Kourkouri's death brings the tally of executions related to violence at the Amini protests up to 11. The last such execution came 10 months ago, after Reza Resaei, 34, was sentenced to death over the killing of a security officer. Rights groups also said his confession was forced. Iran still faces dissent years later On the streets of Iranian cities, it's becoming increasingly common to see a woman pass by without a mandatory hijab, as the third anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini and the mass protests it sparked approaches this fall. The government has targeted private businesses where women are seen without their headscarves. Surveillance cameras search for women uncovered in vehicles to fine and impound their cars, and authorities have gone as far as to use aerial drones to monitor women. The country's reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian campaigned on a promise to curb the morality police's harassment of women. But the country's ultimate authority rests with its 86-year-old Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei has in the past said 'unveiling is both religiously forbidden and politically forbidden.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store